A HORSE rider has hit out at rally organisers for putting up plastic tape on footpaths two days before the event, leaving her forced to ride on dangerous roads.

The woman from Stones Green, who did not want to be named, said she complained to organisers after seeing the tape was up on Friday lunchtime while riding with friends.

She said: "It was my understanding and the understanding of many others in the area that they wouldn't start preparing the roads for the car rally until Saturday afternoon.

"They were doing it on Friday morning.

"They were putting up plastic tape, cutting off footpaths and forcing us and our horses around dangerous blind bends.

"I contacted the rally organisers and they assured me they would take it all down - they didn't."

The horse owner said an access point to a farmers field they ride on was taped off, a path used by a friend to access her house with her horse, as well as along hedging running up another path the riders used to avoid the roads that day.

She added: "My friend couldn't get her horse past it.

"It was chaos.

"On the day itself we were blocked in.

"I have five horses, two in particular are particularly jumpy.

"Every time a trial started I had to go and calm them down because they were frightened.

"A lot of the cars were backfiring, it sounded like gunshots.

"It brings money into Clacton, but some of the rural villages have nothing to show for it but hassle."

A Corbeau Rally spokesman said: "The putting-up of tape is part of the essential Safety Plan plan for the rally, to designate areas where neither marshals nor the public can stand, for their own safety.

"This was begun ahead of the event and in many cases stakes were pre-positioned and tape stretched-out, before being wound back-in and left in readiness for final configuration.

"A resident contacted us to raise concerns on Saturday morning and a dialogue was started.

"Unfortunately the locations causing concern were unclear.

"While we sought information from the resident to pinpoint locations and shared a map to help with this we did not receive a reply to information request sent just before noon on the day before the rally.

"Following the event our resident liaison manager has spoken to the resident to develop improved understanding and relationships for any future events."